Leslie Varley is a committed social justice advocate with over 30 years working for and with Indigenous peoples. Since 2016 she has been the Executive Director of British Columbia Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres, an umbrella agency supporting 25 Indigenous social services centres. Within this role Leslie is working with the larger social services sector and with provincial government agencies to lead reconciliation focussed initiatives aimed to make all social services culturally safe, appropriate and accessible to Indigenous people.
Previously Leslie held the Indigenous health portfolio at Provincial Health Services Authority where she led the development of San’yas Indigenous Cultural Safety, a cutting edge decolonizing anti-racism training program offered to the health, social and justice sectors in Canada.
She is a board member of Central City Foundation, Vancouver’s oldest foundation, which invests in social impact real estate. She is a founding member of Honouring Nations Canada’s Circle of Advisors – an Indigenous committee of Fulbright Canada.
Her education includes a Masters in Business Administration from Simon Fraser University. Living as a guest at Musqueam First Nation in Vancouver, Leslie belongs to the Gisk’aast (Killer Whale) house of the Nisga’a Nation, and holds the name, Tan de-entqwl allugigat, (One who leads Indigenous people).